Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh Monday briefed Lower House Speaker Ahmad Safadi, members of the permanent office and heads of parliamentary blocs and committees on His Majesty King Abdullah’s intensified efforts to end the Israeli war on Gaza and ensure a sustained delivery of humanitarian aid. “The ferocious war and vicious aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip without shame, fear, or adherence to the least ethical and humanitarian standards constitutes a flagrant violation of the rules of war, the international law and the international humanitarian law, and regrettably points to the fact that Israel pursues this aggression with impunity,” he said. Israel’s ongoing impunity and silence over its violations against Palestinian civilians constitute a double standard that “is shameful and cannot be tolerated or stay silent on, as if the life of Palestinian civilians matters less than the life of any other people, he said. He said the ongoing spilling of Palestinian blood must stop, “and this is a constant Jordanian position toward civilians anywhere, let alone the fact that the civilians are our fellow Arabs and brothers.” In the midst of the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian brothers and the brutal, barbaric aggression against Gaza, the Jordanian state’s position cannot be separated from that of the public, political parties and all institutions. “We all stand in total harmony and rally behind His Majesty King Abdullah in his honorable and courageous positions, and his tireless efforts since the first day of the aggression, to stop it and ensure sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to our Palestinian brothers,” he said. The Prime Minister said Jordanians would not allow “a small group to shift the compass and the focus from aggression and crimes to stir up (national) strife”, and will counter attempts at incitement against the armed forces and security services. He said all Jordanians are unanimous in condemning the Israeli aggression and the need to deliver humanitarian aid. The Prime Minister said “disciplined expressions” are open to Jordanians within the law, as long as there is no vandalism of public and private property, adding that no one was arrested during the anti-war demonstrations, and commending security forces in dealing with the protesters. He said the brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip claimed about 10,000 lives, more than two thirds of them were children and women, with a large number of people still under the rubble of collapsed buildings, adding that ambulances and relief workers were targeted, which entirely contradicts the principle of self-defense. Khasawneh noted His Majesty’s relentless endeavors to galvanize international support for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, adding that the King held meetings and made contacts with Arab leaders as well as international parties during his European tour and current visit to Brussels. The King’s efforts, he pointed out, helped to shift the international position with an about face in public opinion demanding an end to the aggression, referring to anti-war demonstrations taking place across the world and in Western capital.
Source: Jordan News Agency